Hi! I am a complete newbie to RAR files and I want to learn what to do with them. I was just wondering:What is a multipart RAR file?

A multipart RAR file is a standard RAR file, that was split into many smaller parts. This way, very large Archives can be placed on many small mediums, e.g. CDs.

The parts of a multipart RAR file are usually named "xyz.part1.rar", "yxz.part2.rar" etc. or "xyz.rar", "xyz.r01", "xyz.r02" etc. Depending on how many parts have been generated, there may be a few or a few hundred of these files.

A multipart RAR file can additionally be encrypted and protected by a password. Read more on password protection in the protected RAR files section of this FAQ.

BE CAREFUL: Sometimes multipart RAR files are used for phishing. Learn more in the phishing RAR files section of this FAQ.

Sometimes a multipart RAR file can be damaged and corrupted. Please take a look at the corrupted RAR files section of this FAQ to learn more.

RAR files are also sometimes called RAR archives, RAR documents, RAR packages or just RARs. Multipart RAR files can be called spanned, multi-volume, split, in pieces, etc. etc. as well. But still: It's all the same: A large RAR file broken into many smaller files.

Hi! I want to download a large multipart RAR file and before that, I would like to test the extraction of a split archive (".part1.rar", ".part2.rar" etc.) with a simple example file. Do you have a simple example multipart RAR archive that I can use for testing?

Simply install one of the above freeware programs, put all parts of the multipart RAR archive in the same directory and double-click the first part.

Congratulations. That's it. :-)

Hi! I would like to put some files on my website that I want to compress using the RAR algorithm.How can I create multipart RAR files for free?

The RAR algorithm is copyrighted and only the decompression part is available to the general public for free, so free apps like RarZilla, 7-Zip etc. can't offer you RAR file creation, even if they wanted to.

In order to create multipart RAR files, you have to use RAR apps from the company who created the RAR algorithm, some of which are free on some operating systems. Their main app, WinRAR, is only free for a trial period.

Hi! I have used the unrar tool for some time and it has always worked well. Today, however, I tried to open a RAR file, but it was not unpacked. The file extension was somewhat different than that of previous RAR files. This ended in ".part2.rar". How can I unpack a ".part2.rar" RAR file?

A ".part2.rar" RAR file is a part of a split RAR file which you can not unpack without the other parts. Split RAR archives will be used if the space on the medium is limited. If so, e.g., a large 700MB RAR archive is split into some 100MB parts and uploaded at different hosters. The seven parts are then put back together after the parts have been downloaded.

You need to download all parts of such split archives to be able to begin with the unraring process, so go and get all the RAR files with the extensions ".part2.rar, .part1.rar" etc. Depending on how many parts have been generated, there may be a few or a few hundred of these ".partXYZ.rar"-type files.

If you have downloaded all files needed, e.g., all seven ".part1-7.rar" RAR files, and placed them in the same directory, it is sufficient to double-click the file with the extension ".part1.rar" to start the unrar process (if RarZilla or a similar program is installed). All other files, e.g., the ".part5.rar" RAR file, will automatically be found and unpacked.

Done! Congratulations! :-) You have just unpacked your first split RAR archive.

Hi! I downloaded all parts of a multipart RAR file, but still the extractor doesn't extract.Why does the extraction not work, even though I have all parts?

Probably at least one of the RAR parts is corrupted. That happens often during transmission. And maybe there is not enough free memory or disk space.

First of all: Make sure, that there is enough free disk space available on your hard drive.

Then double-check that you have all parts of the multipart archive and that they are all in the same folder.

If the extraction still fails, re-download all parts.

Sometimes this still doesn't help, because the RAR files on the server might have been damaged already while uploading. In this case, try to contact the person who uploaded the multipart RAR file and kindly ask for a re-upload and repeat the steps above.

Now, at last, your multipart RAR file is extracted. :-)

Greetings! I certainly like my RAR extractor, especially the way it can extract multi part RAR files by just selecting the first part.
I believe that I need another tool to re-assemble the parts of a single file that has been split into several RAR pieces. Is this correct? I expect to have to do some post extraction work to re-assemble the original file.How can I re-assemble the parts of a single file that has been split into several RAR pieces?

All the "re-assembling" of a single file, that has been split into several RAR pieces, is done automatically during extraction. You don't need another tool.

Just drag and drop the first part...

Hi there, I have a multipart rar, 3 parts (name.part1.rar, name.part2.rar, name.part3.rar) about 20MB each in size. Is there any way to 'join' these multiparts to one single file?

That depends on which single file you mean: Do you want to create one single RAR file? Then you need WinRAR. Extract the multiparts and create a new RAR file using WinRAR. Put all the files from the multipart RAR in it. Done.

Do you want to 'join' one single file that is inside the multiparts? Then, all you have to do is start the extraction of the first part. All the "joining" of the one single file that is inside is done automatically by the extraction program. Done. :-)

Hi, I saw your FAQ of rar files, and you wrote that if a person has a question that wasn't answered to feel free to email you. Well, I have a strange problem when it comes to multi rar unpacking. I'm trying to play a part2.rar game I downloaded and unpacked, and although neither file is corrupted, I can't seem to figure out how to merge the two files together in order for the game to work since it currently won't work. Could you please help me? How can I merge the two RAR parts together?

First of all: You don't need to merge the RAR parts manually in order to extract them. The extraction program will do everything that is necessary during extraction automatically.

Maybe you have not downloaded all parts of the multipart RAR yet. Check if there are more then two parts out there. Maybe you have not put them all in the same directory yet. Please check this also.

Once you are good to go, start the extraction by opening the first part (First part only!!! All other parts will be found and extracted automatically!). Done! :-)

Hi! I want to ask something about extracting multipart RAR files... I'm downloading .rar files with many parts, and the extractor says [multipart] and stops the extracting... notice:
I'm downloading the .rar files using cryptload.
Please help me, and tell me what do I have to do to fix it :)Could my download helper be causing these problems?

Unfortunately: Yes. There have been reports that cryptload causes these problems.

Other users reported that other download helpers, e.g. Jdownloader, worked fine.

If you are getting consistent and unexpected corrupt downloads, try to minimize failure sources by downloading directly without any helper and see if anything changes... Good luck! :-)

Hi! I stumbled upon some files with the extensions .r03, .r07, .r31 etc. I read in the Wikipedia, that these are RAR compressed archive files.How do I 'unrar' .r03, .r07, .r31, and etc. files?

.r03, .r07, .r31, and etc. RAR files belong to a set of RAR files which form a multipart archive, that you can not 'unrar' without all of it's parts.

So go and get all the RAR files with the extensions .r03, .r07, .r31, and etc. There will be at least somewhat over 30 parts.

Then place all files of the set in the same folder and double-click the first file with the extension ".rar" to start the unrar process (if RarZilla or a similar program is installed). All other parts, e.g., the ".r07" RAR file, will automatically be found and extracted.

Congratulations! That's it. :-)

Hi! I just downloaded all rar files of a multipart rar archive and started extracting. Then the following message comes up: "Zugriffsverletzung bei Adresse 01034F21 in Modul 'unrar.dll'. Schreiben von Adresse 000036B4." I have no idea what its saying.What does that multipart RAR file Zugriffsverletzung-message say?

It says that your RAR file killed the unrar dynamic link library (DLL) that the extractor uses to decompress the RAR archive.

Maybe one or more of the RAR parts are corrupted or there is not enough memory or disk space.

Solution: Double-check that you have all parts of the multipart archive and that they are all in the same folder. If the extraction still fails, re-download all parts. Sometimes this still doesn't help, because the RAR files on the server might be damaged already. In this case, try to contact the person who uploaded the multipart RAR file and kindly ask for a re-upload.

Hi! I'm trying to open the first part of a 17 part RAR download. I see a (temporary?) 531MB file with the extension .ISO when extracting, but it disappears when the extractor is finished, and it asks me to enter info for the next archive.I was wondering maybe I need to download all of the files, all 17, before I start to open them?

Yes! The 17 ".part1-17.rar" RAR files together form a multipart RAR archive, which you can not extract partially. Split RAR archives are usually used if the space on the medium is limited. If so e.g. a large 531MB RAR archive as a download and there are only a few MB of webspace at different hosters available, one creates a split archive, consisting of 17 parts, that is put back together after the download.

If you have downloaded all 17 ".part1-17.rar" RAR files, and placed them in the same directory, it is sufficient to double-click the file with the extension ".part1.rar" to start the unrar process (if RarZilla or a similar program is installed).

All other files, e.g., the ".part17.rar" RAR file, will automatically be found and unpacked.

Hi! I downloaded all parts of a multipart RAR file, but still the extractor doesn't extract. It seems like one of the parts is corrupted.Is there a way to fix a multipart RAR file?

Then: Make sure, that there is enough free disk space available on your hard drive to extract the RAR files.

Double-check that you have all parts of the multipart archive and that they are all in the same folder. Start the extraction with the first part.

If the extraction still fails, re-download all broken parts.

Sometimes this still doesn't help, because the RAR files on the server might have been damaged already while uploading. In this case, try to contact the person who uploaded the multipart RAR file and kindly ask for a re-upload and repeat the steps above.